In the basement of the Unified Arts Building is a room with three rusty cars from the 80s. Every morning at 8:20 a.m., a dozen or so students file into the room to work with various automotive tools and components. Standing in one corner is a whiteboard with Ohm’s law written on it.
“Physics, science and automotive go very hand-in-hand,” part-time automotive technology teacher Gerard Comeau said. “You need Ohm’s law to check out all the electrical components on the car. This is practical physics in its essence.”
Comeau, a retired teacher working as an interim instructor, said that 90 freshmen had signed up for this course, but the class could accommodate only 15 students this semester because the school has been unable to find a full-time instructor with appropriate credentials. For the same reason, the second-level automotive class is no longer being offered.
The school currently offers several vocational courses, which are designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore occupational fields, including those in business, medicine, culinary arts, automobile and engineering, but many of the vocational courses have room for improvement, according to guidance counselor Eric Shiff.
“Some of them are undersubscribed, and I think all of them are underfunded,” said Shiff, who is part of the curriculum committee. “It would be nice to have more robust and complete voc tech offerings.”
Comeau believes the best way to improve the automotive course is by restoring it to a full-time program.
“I think it’d be fun to have Automotive II because you continue what you’ve been doing right now,” said freshman Michael Nally, who is taking the class this semester. “It’s weird to end it where it is.”
In response to the weaknesses in the vocational programs last year, the curriculum committee began reviewing the Career and Technology Education department. The process began by examining the current position, according to Assistant Headmaster Hal Mason.
“We are looking at what works and what doesn’t work with the program, and what the program should be,” said Mason, who is part of the curriculum committee. “A large part of the first year was designing the survey to talk to parents and kids.”
According to Career and Technology Education Curriculum Coordinator Arnie Marcus, the curriculum review, which is a three-year process, is currently in its second year.
In the past months, the curriculum committee members have been visiting other schools to examine their programs.
“We went to site-visit Newton North and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, which have huge programs. Classes run during all blocks. It’s not something you get here and there,” Shiff said. “So the committee feels ‘maybe we can’t replicate what these schools have, but we can move in that direction.’”
Right now, however, the school faces a few challenges.
“Money is an obstacle,” Mason said. “And space—There are certain things you just cannot do because we do not have the space to do them.”
Newton North, for example, has bigger buildings and newer facilities, and more kids are involved in the vocational program, Mason said.
Additionally, changes in the program can take a long time, according to Mason.
“It depends on what the changes are,” Mason said. “Some would involve major changes, and you’d have to have whole new rooms and shops built in order to accommodate them. Some of them could be just changing the focus of programs.”
According to Marcus, by the end of this year, there will be recommendations made and presented to the school committee, who will then discuss and vote on them. In the third year, the school will start implementing any changes.
Despite the improvements to be made, senior Carina Martins has already found success while taking the restaurant class, one of the vocational classes. She said that the class has helped her prepare for college and she is now certain she wants to pursue studies related to culinary.
“It’s fun working in the restaurant. I learned a lot; I learned to love it,” she said. “Maybe one day I want to found a place like this in a high school to teach others like I was taught.”
Marcus said offering vocational courses is important in helping students explore potential careers.
“When you think about life after Brookline, it is important that they look at not only what they are interested in, but what they are not interested in,” Marcus said. “Unless one knows exactly what they want to do and the pathway to get there, this is a great way to explore some different areas to see whether you like or dislike.”
Paul Kim can be contacted at [email protected].
